Home and commercial HVAC systems operate to ensure occupant comfort within a dwelling or building despite the changing weather conditions outside. Modern HVAC systems operate via thermostatic control that may be set by a user to maintain the temperature and humidity of the ambient surroundings at a desired and comfortable level.
Such modern HVAC systems typically include a furnace or boiler to provide heating, an air conditioning unit to provide cooling, and a user adjustable thermostat to sense the ambient temperature, compare it to the set temperature desired by the user, and appropriately control the heating and cooling units to maintain the ambient temperature and humidity at the thermostat setpoint. Alternatively or additionally, the HVAC system may comprise a heat pump system that operates to provide both the heating and cooling requirements of the dwelling or structure. To provide an added measure of comfort, typical HVAC systems also include a system air filter to remove allergens and other particulate matter from the air flow to further enhance the comfort level provided by the system.
While such systems operate effectively, to ensure their continued effective operation periodic maintenance and the changing of the filters are required. The filter changing requirements may vary depending on the time of the year, based on the occupant's allergies, environmental conditions, etc. The scheduling of periodic maintenance may have safety related aspects, particularly when involving the furnace. Such periodic maintenance may also detect malfunctions that can have environmental impact, particularly related to the leakage of coolant from an air conditioning unit. In each of these situations, a reduction in efficiency of the HVAC system results in increased cost to the consumer. In these times of soaring energy costs, such preventable reductions in efficiency should not occur.
However, many people simply forget to have their HVAC system periodically checked and maintained. This is because typical HVAC systems operate for long periods of time without requiring any maintenance. This passage of time tends to cause many people to simply forget when the last time their HVAC system was serviced. Further, the reduction in efficiency that may result from inadequate maintenance, while manifesting itself in higher energy bills, does not typically adversely affect the ability of the HVAC system to provide the heating or cooling desired for quite some period of time. As a result, the consumer does not notice any problem with the HVAC system, and may equate increased heating and cooling costs with increased utility prices or particularly severe weather conditions.
Eventually, however, the consumer may remember to have the HVAC system serviced, or a problem may manifest itself in malfunction of the HVAC system. At this point, the consumer needs to determine who to call to have the system serviced or repaired. Unfortunately, the phone book typically contains several listings for HVAC companies, which leads to confusion over who to call.
As people typically like to maintain a relationship with the HVAC company that installed the system or provided service in the past, many HVAC service companies utilize a sticker or magnet affixed to the furnace, air conditioner, heat pump, etc. These stickers typically include the contact information for the service company. Unfortunately, such stickers placed on components of the HVAC system are often difficult to find based in part to the location of these components in poorly lit basements of dwellings. On other of such components, the stickers may be located outside the dwelling, which exposes them to the fading effects of the sun, as well as the weathering effects of rain, snow, etc. As a result, the stickers on the HVAC system components are often ineffective because the consumer cannot find them, or because the information on the sticker has faded over time.
In some instances, for example for the installation of a new system or the upgrade of the thermostatic controller, the service company may include a sticker on the thermostat itself. However, many consumers do not wish to have such an advertisement placed on the outside of the thermostat as it detracts from the aesthetic appeal thereof. As such, many service companies apply a sticker to the underside of the thermostat cover. However, in such a location the stickers often cover important operational instructions for the thermostat controller. Further, the consumer may not realize that the service contact information is on the underside of the cover, and therefore may not even look in this location in an attempt to determine who to call for service. As such, the usage of such stickers is also ineffective to communicate to the customer the appropriate service contact information.
Therefore, there exists a need in the art for a system and method of providing service reminders to consumers for their HVAC system, with such service reminders also including the contact information for the HVAC service company that previously provided service or that installed the system for the consumer.